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I have been observing for four years now. The observers meet the captains the night before at the captains meeting and we always exchange phone numbers in case there is an emergency or a problem. Why not have the captain provide the observers phone number to the guys on the boat and the guys can provide it to the folks at home in case they have an emergency. During the tournament there will only be one phone turned on and that will be the observers. All other phones on board will be turned off and in the custody of the observer. A family member could call the observer directly instead having to go through Tournament Control and have the message relayed. God forbid if one of my family members had an accident or went to the hospital, I would want to be notified ASAP. If I was observing on a boat and one of the participants family members called my phone with an emergency I would just hand the phone over to the participant. I have been on boats before when some of the guys were really reluctant and worried about having to turn off their phone because of a situation that was going on at home. This would give them and their families peace of mind knowing they could have direct contact in case something happens.

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I have been on boats before when some of the guys were really reluctant and worried about having to turn off their phone because of a situation that was going on at home. This would give them and their families peace of mind knowing they could have direct contact in case something happens.

I have had team members very unhappy with turning off their phones for personal use. It may cost me team members. It is not about cheating, there is definitely another issue out there. Can't sat that I know the answer but I don't think the issue will just go away.

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These are high stakes tournaments and as a captain I don't want anything "extra" to do like monitoring the observer's cell phone. The observer in many cases is a member of another team and therefore if they have the ability to receive information via cell phone, be it an emergency or not, I don't want to have to decifer that during an event. No cell phones period eliminated that, plus the boat radio is always on and the crew can be contacted by the tournament committee if there is an emergency for anyone aboard. If anyone has an issue with not being able to reach a member/observer via cell phone, give them the tournament control number. Problem solved.

We too witnessed no communication infractions during the east end events. I would suggest one change for Sodus however: we really liked the way Oswego was run without a designated time to be in the pierheads. Just use a designated time for weigh-in. Just our opinion.

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Back to the original discussion, I find it sad (although not surprising) that something like that was put in print. I'd guess it was done knowing they could plead the "source" wanted to stay anonymous, but I can also attest that no violations were reported in Sodus and the accusation is rubbish.

False accusations designed for the sole intent of discrediting others in order to advance one's own personal interests will almost always backfire. I suspect that will be the case here, unless "someone" wants to dip into his own pocket again to infuse lots of bribe cash to fill the field.

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When you hear about those cases where an observer screwed up writing down the GPS coordinates, the captain did not confirm the observer recorded them correctly.....with everything involved with entering and running a team, money invested etc. etc. seems really silly to have the days catch disqualified over GPS coordinates. So ask the question.....does it matter? You can't fly to the Kenai and back in the time it for weigh-in so of course the fish are caught in Lake Ontario. Volunteers and tournament officials are often also participants and they are privy to these day 1 results. Just make the process simpler and above board....do away with GPS coordinate requirements.

ya i dont like giving up GPS coordinates ether. Always kinda felt like they could slip into the wrong hands behind closed doors if you know what i mean.

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Nobody want your numbers! Just go out and fish! 95% of the field fishes close enough to the port the event is held out of that everyone knows where people are fishing. Part of tourney fishing is learning to read boats.

Spring KOTL doesn't require numbers. Yet everyone and their mother fished with us on day 2 last year.

That being said I could care less if we had to have numbers or not. If the rules require them then fine. It keeps people honest during boarder events.

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Bill hilts did say something in his article that is 100% cheaters will find a way to cheat!

Make the rules, enforce them when needed and have fun. Over the yrs the same guys worry about everyone that cheats. It's a handful of concerned people. We have gone no comm in kotl and it has changed our tournaments to the good. In fact I have a hard time fishing open comm events and we do but definitely look at them differently.

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I will be in the no communication tournaments this year for sure. Not sure if I will be in any that has open communication. I don't care how big the purse is. But after all these years I can say its getting old we have the same people fighting the no communication, but to put in print slamming other tournaments is no way to get people to come to yours

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Nobody want your numbers! Just go out and fish! 95% of the field fishes close enough to the port the event is held out of that everyone knows where people are fishing. Part of tourney fishing is learning to read boats.

Spring KOTL doesn't require numbers. Yet everyone and their mother fished with us on day 2 last year.

That being said I could care less if we had to have numbers or not. If the rules require them then fine. It keeps people honest during boarde

Nobody want your numbers! Just go out and fish! 95% of the field fishes close enough to the port the event is held out of that everyone knows where people are fishing. Part of tourney fishing is learning to read boats.

Spring KOTL doesn't require numbers. Yet everyone and their mother fished with us on day 2 last year.

That being said I could care less if we had to have numbers or not. If the rules require them then fine. It keeps people honest during boarder events.

Spring KOTL doesn't require numbers. Yet everyone and their mother fished with us on day 2 last year.

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